The invention relates generally to a system for dispensing water and, more particularly, to a bottle cap which allows a bottle to be readily mated with a dispenser while substantially preventing debris from entering the water supply upon loading of a bottle onto the dispensing system.
Hygienic liquid dispensing systems for selectively dispensing a liquid, such as water, are well known in the art. Such systems generally include a container which holds the liquid to be dispensed, the container typically being a bottle having a neck with an opening for dispensing the water therethrough. The bottle may be loaded or mounted into a re-usable dispenser by lifting and inverting the bottle and placing the neck into a receptacle in the dispenser, which is adapted to hold the bottle in the inverted position. The water may then be discharged through an aperture, a tube, or other passageway formed in the receptacle, and into a chamber in the dispenser. A user may then draw water from the chamber through a stop valve, as desired.
Prior art bottles have utilized a cap for sealing the opening of the bottle in order to prevent spillage of the water as it is being inverted and mounted into the dispenser. A probe may be provided in the water dispenser to pierce the cap when the water bottle is mounted to the water dispenser to enable water to flow from the bottle to the chamber of the dispenser. Filtered air may be provided to the chamber through a filtered air system to enable water to be drawn from the chamber when the dispensing system is being used.
Such prior art liquid dispensers often include a sharp probe with a pointed end which is used to puncture a cap on the liquid container when the container is placed in the dispenser. This type of probe is described in the aforementioned ""188 patent. Such a sharpened probe is also utilized in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,723 and is used to pierce the cap disclosed therein. In use, the water bottle having a cap disposed over the neck is inverted and placed on the water dispenser such that the sharp probe contacts and impales the cap, thereby creating an opening in the cap through which water flows, from the bottle and into the chamber of the water dispenser. While such dispensers utilizing a sharpened probe are generally effective, the sharpness of the probe can result in injuries when a hand or fingers of a person contact the sharp probe area during cleaning or positioning the water bottle. In addition, after the sharpened point of the probe has penetrated the bottle cap, if the water bottle is thereafter removed form the water dispenser when there is water remaining in the bottle, water may exit the bottle via the opening created by the probe and spill onto the outside of the water dispenser and/or the floor.
Rather than relying on a pointed probe to impale a bottle cap, some prior art water dispensing systems have employed alternative techniques for breaking a seal of a bottle cap when the water bottle is inverted and installed on the water dispenser. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,125 discloses a bottle cap having a removable plug inserted therein to seal the water bottle. In the system disclosed in this reference, when a blunt probe is inserted into the end of the bottle cap, the plug becomes lodged on the end of the probe and is pushed into the water bottle along with the probe. When the probe is then removed from the bottle cap, the plug is reseated into the end of the bottle cap so that the water bottle is again sealed. With this type of bottle cap, there is a risk that the removable plug may become dislodged from the end of the probe when the probe is inserted in the water bottle. Thus, water may spill onto the outside of the water dispenser and/or the floor when the water bottle is removed from the water dispenser with water remaining in the water bottle. In addition, the requirement that a specialized plug be included in each bottle cap can significantly increase the manufacturing cost of these types of bottle caps.
Other prior art bottle caps that are designed for use with blunt-ended probes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,867 and 5,687,865. The bottle caps disclosed in these patents include conical surfaces which are scored along one or more meridian planes thereof to enable the ends of blunt probes to penetrate them. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,865, a single frangible line 51 extends through a meridian plane of the to-be-penetrated cone so that when the tip 62 of a blunt probe is pressed against an inner surface of the cone, the cone splits into two halves as the probe enters the water bottle through the slit formed between the two halves. The ""865 patent discloses that a rib 56, perpendicular to the plane of the score line 51 is centrally disposed on the exterior of the bottom 53 of the cone, as shown in FIG. 2. The rib is first engaged by the probe in order to aid in splitting the cone. The two halves of the cone are preferably made of a resilient plastic material that causes the cone to return substantially to its original shape, thereby inhibiting water from exiting the water bottle if the water bottle (with water remaining therein) is removed from the water dispenser. However, because the shape memory of the plastic material forming the cone is imperfect (i.e. some permanent deformation will necessarily occur in response to the cone being penetrated by the probe, especially when the probe remains in the cone for an extended period of time), the cone will not return completely to its pre-penetrated shape and some sort of gap will generally be left between the two halves of the cone after the probe is removed. This fact is pointed out in the written description of the ""865 patent (see for example, Col. 5, lines 5-8). Therefore, some water will be permitted to leak from the gap when a water bottle having water remaining therein is removed from the water dispenser.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,867, frangible lines extend through multiple meridian planes of the to-be-penetrated cone so that, when a blunt probe 70 is pressed against an inner surface of the cone, the cone is caused to fragment into several petal-shaped segments as the probe 70 enters the water bottle 12 via the bottle cap 10. An injection stem 42 (formed by the injection molding process) may be attached by a thickened connection line 44 to one of the petal-shaped segments 40. FIG. 2 illustrates the probe 70 engaging the injection stem 42 as it penetrates the cone. The injection stem is connected centrally, at the apex of the cone, and is apparently hinged by the connection line to the end of only one peal-shaped segment after engagement by the probe. When the probe 70 is removed from this type of cone, the petals of the cone do not return to their original, non-penetrated position. Therefore, an opening of some size remains between the petals-shaped segments of the cone after the probe 70 is removed from within the bottle cap 10.
Other techniques for enabling a water bottle to be installed on a water dispenser are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,456,294 and 5,472,021. In each of these patents, a specialized structure is used to create an opening in a bottle cap in response to the creation of a hydraulic shock wave within the water bottle, e.g., when a person physically strikes the sides of the bottle. Using these techniques, however, it is possible that the bottle cap may prematurely permit water to exit the bottle if a physical force is exerted on the water bottle before it is properly installed on the water dispenser. Additionally, if water bottles employing these bottle caps are removed from the water dispenser before the water bottle is emptied completely, water may spill onto the outside of the water dispenser and/or the floor.
Still further techniques for enabling a water bottle to be installed on a water dispenser are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,890. Disclosed in this patent are techniques which delay the time taken for water to exit the water bottle after the water bottle is inverted for installation on a water dispenser. Specifically, this reference teaches that a membrane seal in the bottle cap which is folded multiple times can be caused to gradually unfold in response to water pressure being exerted thereon when the water bottle is inverted for installation. It also teaches that, alternatively, a water sensitive material can be employed in the bottle cap to gradually enable water to exit the water bottle as the material reacts to water that comes into contact therewith when the water bottle is inverted for installation. As with the techniques described above requiring hydraulic shock waves to activate opening of the bottle cap, there is a risk that water will exit the water bottle prematurely, i.e., before the water bottle is properly mounted on the water dispenser. For example, this may occur if the water bottle is inverted during storage or if an excessive period of time elapses between when the user inverts the water bottle and when the user actually installs the water bottle on the water dispenser. Further, if water bottles employing these bottle caps are removed from a water dispenser before the water bottle is emptied completely, water may spill onto the outside of the water dispenser and/or the floor.
Thus, there is a need for a hygienic bottle cap which reduces the amount of spillage that occurs when utilizing a removable bottle with a dispenser, and which does not require a large amount of force to pierce the bottle""s cap so that a blunt probe in the dispenser may be used.
One object of the present invention is to provide a hygienic bottle cap for a fluid container which can be readily mated with a dispenser, while preventing unwanted debris from entering the fluid supply upon loading of the container onto the dispensing system.
In one embodiment, a hygienic bottle cap for connection to a fluid container has a skirt and a crown portion, and includes a cylindrical wall having an upper portion and a lower portion and forming a central well in the crown portion of the cap. A flapper forming a portion of the bottom surface of the central well is attached to the cylindrical wall and a pre-formed score line is formed partially around the perimeter of the flapper such that a blunt-tip probe may enter the container by applying a force to the flapper sufficient to separate a portion of the flapper from the cylindrical wall along the pre-formed score line. The flapper may be connected to the cylindrical wall with two separate tab portions.
In another embodiment, the flapper may be attached to the cylindrical wall with a bridge connected to the flapper. The flapper may be constructed of a material to allow the flapper to return to its original sealed position after a probe which has separated the flapper has been removed from the central well. In another embodiment, the flapper may form the entire bottom surface of the central well such that a sealing shelf may be formed with the cylindrical wall.
In yet another embodiment, the flapper may include a protrusion supported on an underside of the flapper. The protrusion is designed to be engaged by the probe in order to concentrate the force of the probe and break the flapper at a pre-determined location, for example along the pre-formed score line.